The Building of Me
Aristotle said that "we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." And Goethe said that the "things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least."
Youth in the Philippines
Even though we have not come into this world by choice, where we go from here is the really important thing, and that IS our choice. It is in the daily duties that character is formed, and it is character that forms the man into a gentleman and the young woman into a lady. The tools given to make this building of me are the inherited talents and intellect as well as the opportunities provided by the time, the place (or the station of our lives), and the means which all-wise providence has provided.
Just as nothing in the Bible is unimportant (everything has a reason), so, too, in our lives there are really no unimportant matters. Tremendous consequences come from little things, and therefore we should never be tempted to think that there are little things. While this created world came into being by God's lightning word, and the lightning word took very little time, nevertheless it was no little thing! The spiritual man is not made in a moment, but moment by moment.
Young friends, God is not waiting for you to develop your intellect and talents in the shadow of another person or in the halls of some university so He can use you in some future time. He calls you to come to the front now. How? By resisting the corrupting, bewitching influences of this fast age and by becoming a qualified worker for His cause wherever you are today. He has already paid your wages. He has already gained the victory. And now He asks you to enjoy it as you and He develop your talents and improve your intellect by taking advantage of every opportunity He is giving you right now. Whether you are working side by side with others or improving your knowledge in higher education, be a co-laborer with Him now by doing everything in love to His glory. Don't try to be a self-made man or woman; be a child of Christ. Let the "me" of your building of me be Jesus!
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." What is in you? What is your motive for doing what you're doing? The world is full of "me's." Make your world full of Jesus.
These young people and adults were attendees at a youth conference held in Mendoza, Argentina in February 1997.
We are in the perils of the last days. Our only safety is in watchfulness and prayer. Read the word. Take time for God and prayer, and you "will be constantly refreshed by drafts from the fountain of life." Then you "will attain a height of moral excellence and a breadth of thought that others cannot conceive of. Communion with God encourages good thoughts, noble aspirations, clear perceptions of truth, and lofty purposes of action. Those who thus connect themselves with God are acknowledged by Him as His sons and daughters." --The Youth's Instructor, September 15, 1898.
--Larry Watts, General Conference Youth Leader, Germany/U.S.A.
